All Heavens: Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts Starting from the Republic of China

The village chief turned to Fu Ze, cupped his hands, and bowed in greeting.

"My name is Feng hope. Thank you for your kind assistance, young sir."

Fu Ze returned the greeting.

"It was nothing, nothing to mention. Since I ate a meal with Village Chief Feng, I should do my part."

At this moment, Third Uncle also came over and briefly explained the situation.

He stroked his beard and sighed.

"When I first saw Young Master Fu, I knew he was no ordinary person, but I never expected him to possess such abilities. Are you a sorcerer?"

Fu Ze neither agreed nor disagreed, but smiled.

"I only know a few minor tricks."

One of the "Eight Immortals" next to them couldn't help but chime in.

"That's wonderful, young master! We happen to be short a mage here, would you like to..."

"Erniu!"

Feng Wencai glared at the man who had spoken, and the man scratched his head sheepishly.

The host hasn't even spoken yet, and you're already overstepping your bounds?

Moreover, Brother Fu only ate one meal, and he already expended a lot of energy helping to suppress the "Cat-Startled Corpse".

Although Feng Wencai himself very much hoped that Fu Ze could stay.

Feng hope had long had this idea, but he was hesitant to bring it up. Now that Erniu had brought it up, he quickly and sincerely invited him.

"Brother Fu, to be honest, I did invite a Taoist priest, but he said he had something to attend to at home and couldn't come in the end. Sigh..."

Fu Ze thought to himself, "I'm afraid that person knows what's going on in your family and doesn't dare to come."

Judging from the aura emanating from the coffin before them and the imposing demeanor of the Eight Immortals, this situation is likely to be difficult to handle.

But he didn't care.

Besides being "highly skilled and daring" and having a certain personality trait, there is also the characteristic of the "Decree of the Heavens".

If the thing in the coffin doesn't rise from the dead, then it won't take much effort on my part. But if something goes wrong and the corpse turns into a demon, eliminating it will also bring me benefits.

Fu Ze had a plan in mind, but he deliberately feigned reluctance. He frowned, looking at the enormous black coffin, and did not immediately agree.

Sometimes, if you agree too easily, others won't take you seriously.

Seeing this, Feng hope sighed and his expression turned worried.

"Young sir, my granddaughter... truly died unjustly, leaving her no peace. Therefore, we hope she can be buried as soon as possible, to rest in peace. If you, Young Master Fu, can help us, our whole family will be eternally grateful. As for the reward..."

He glanced at Feng Wencai beside him.

Feng Wencai immediately understood and smiled.

"According to the rules, the priests should be paid much more than us coffin bearers. Village chief, don't worry about me."

Fu Ze hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

"Alright, as for the reward, I don't really care, village chief, you can give me whatever you think is appropriate. But I should say, I'm not very good at handling various funeral rites and customs. What I'm good at is dealing with unexpected situations, like just now... do you understand?"

Although Fu Ze was a family heirloom coffin bearer, he did not want to get too involved, so he modestly declined to comment.

The so-called "masters" in folk tradition should actually be called funeral masters or yin-yang masters.

After all, the title of "Master" is only given after being recognized and ordained by a legitimate Taoist sect.

The title of "Master" is not only a name, but also a symbol of status and position.

It is difficult for independent practitioners in the community to have a real opportunity to become a Dharma Master.

Although Fu Ze's great-grandfather was taken in as a disciple by a wandering Taoist priest, that priest himself had not yet been ordained, let alone his lineage.

He can only be considered a rogue cultivator.

Of course, whether in Fu Ze's original world or this place, the common people certainly don't understand these differences and think that anyone who knows about ghosts and ghosts is a sorcerer.

Feng hope was taken aback upon hearing this, then nodded.

"I understand what Brother Fu means. Feng Baxian knows all the rules and regulations for funerals and burials."

Feng Wencai immediately spoke up as well.

"That's right, my brothers and I can handle these things. The young master just needs to keep an eye on things from the sidelines."

Having decided to stay and help, Fu Ze naturally had a good reason to ask about the situation of the woman in the coffin.

Judging from the features of the face in the black-and-white portrait displayed in the mourning hall, he did not seem to be a person of inherently evil nature.

Why do corpses exude such a strong aura of malevolence and resentment after death?

When asked about this, the old village chief Feng hope couldn't help but sigh deeply, while a middle-aged couple behind him started to shed tears again—especially the middle-aged woman, who covered her mouth tightly with her hand to prevent herself from crying too loudly.

After hearing the story, Fu Ze learned the tale of the woman's corpse lying in the coffin...

Feng hope, the village chief of Fengjia Village, had two sons and a daughter. All three were quite successful, making a lot of money in business, which made the Feng family, already local gentry, quite well-known in the entire county.

Lying in the coffin was Feng hope's granddaughter, Feng Xiaoqi, the daughter of his eldest son, Feng Jiang.

Unlike the typical gentry who favored sons over daughters, Feng hope doted on his eldest granddaughter from a young age. He spent a fortune sending her to a modern girls' school in the provincial capital.

Last year, warlords fought amongst themselves across the country, creating chaos and constant gunfire near the provincial capital. The school, for safety reasons, temporarily closed. Feng Xiaoqi simply returned to her hometown to live.

In any case, according to Feng hope, her family is rich, so supporting a girl like her wouldn't be difficult.

Feng hope's children all run businesses in the town and county, and his granddaughter Feng Xiaoqi has a cheerful and outgoing personality, which adds some fun to his monotonous life.

But to everyone's surprise, just a few days ago, Feng Xiaoqi drowned in the river outside the village!

Feng hope felt as if the sky had fallen and the earth had split open. He immediately called all his children back and asked the town's police to come and investigate.

The Feng family was powerful, so the police did not dare to neglect them and sent a large number of officers.

However, after careful investigation and on-site examination, they determined that Feng Xiaoqi had committed suicide and closed the case.

No matter how grief-stricken Feng hope was, she could only face the facts.

He took his granddaughter's body home to lay it to rest, and then began contacting the "masters" and the "eight coffin bearers" to prepare for the funeral.

As a result, strange and bizarre things happened on the very night the body was laid to rest!

Because of Feng Xiaoqi's death, Feng hope's family was immersed in intense grief.

But the human body and mind have their limits. The family was too tired, so only Feng Xi's second son, Feng Hexian, the deceased Feng Xiaoqi's second uncle, stayed to guard the body for one night. The "Eight Immortals" hadn't had time to arrive yet...

The mourning hall hadn't been set up yet, so the body was temporarily placed in the main room. Feng He stayed by his niece's body, while the others slept on the second and third floors.

Around 2 a.m., Feng He went to the outhouse.

Upon returning, they discovered that the white shroud that had covered the body had slipped to the ground, and Feng Xiaoqi's body, which had turned somewhat pale from being soaked in water, lay supine on the long wooden table. One arm dangled off the table, its color a strange bluish-gray.

Feng He suddenly felt his heart tighten.

Although Feng Xiaoqi was a beloved niece when she was alive, the thought of her dead and cold body still filled him with a vague sense of fear.

"Maybe the wind blew the shroud down?"

With that thought in mind, Feng He boldly picked up the white cloth from the ground and carefully covered the body with it. Then he continued to sit in the corner chair and keep vigil.

suddenly!

He vaguely heard a strange noise... and immediately sprang to his senses, all his drowsiness vanished.

Then you see the female corpse, covered by a white cloth, slowly raise her arms.

Reach upwards, reach upwards... and even push up the shroud covering her body!

call……

The shroud fell to the ground.

It turns out that the white cloth fell to the ground because the female corpse raised her hand.

"ah!!!"

Feng He was so frightened that he shouted and ran upstairs.

He woke up Feng hope, his sister-in-law, his own wife, and his third brother and sister-in-law, and in a somewhat incoherent manner recounted what he had just seen.

"My niece...she moved! Has she turned into a ghost?"

"Nonsense! That's your niece, my own granddaughter. What nonsense are you spouting?"

Feng hope angrily rebuked them, then led everyone downstairs to the main room where the body was kept.

Just as Feng He had said, the white shroud fell to the ground—but there was really no wind tonight! It was unlikely that the shroud, which was tightly covering the female corpse, could have been blown to the ground.

But Feng Xiaoqi's body lay quietly on the long wooden table, without raising her arms.

"Alright, everyone go back to sleep. There are less than two hours until dawn. I'll stay with my granddaughter from now on."

Feng hope is over sixty years old. What storms hasn't he seen?

He was far bolder than his children and insisted on keeping vigil himself. But how could Feng He and the others sleep? So they stayed to keep the old man company.

Fortunately, nothing unusual happened until dawn.

The next day, Feng Wencai and the other "Eight Immortals" coffin bearers arrived at the Feng family's residence.

Feng Wencai personally examined Feng Xiaoqi's body, and his expression turned somewhat grim.

He told Feng hope that it was because the female corpse's resentment was too strong.

Feng Xiaoqi was spoiled by her family since childhood, but she did not have a good life after growing up and died suddenly. She was already resentful and had deep grievances.

Even more terrifying, Feng Wencai discovered that Feng Xiaoqi was actually pregnant!

Because she wasn't showing any signs of pregnancy, no one noticed.

The fetus in the womb might already be fully formed, but it died before being born...

The combined resentment of the fetal corpse and the mother's corpse made even Feng Wencai, who had been carrying coffins for decades, feel a chill run down his spine.

He told Feng hope that the burial must be carried out as soon as possible, so that he could be laid to rest immediately, otherwise there might be big trouble!

……

"Young master, that's roughly the situation."

After explaining the whole story, Feng Wencai sighed and looked at Fu Ze.

Fu Ze answered him.

"Yes, coffin maker Feng, I understand. Have you calculated the auspicious date for the funeral?"

Feng Wencai nodded.

"It's all planned out. Tomorrow at 1:15 AM, the coffin will be officially lifted and the funeral procession will begin. We'll leave the courtyard, walk north along the path outside the village for about 100 meters, and then go up the mountain from the west. We'll take the mountain path and arrive at the pre-selected burial site precisely at 3:45 AM."

The Yin hour, according to the modern 24-hour clock, is equivalent to between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Tigers are most ferocious at this time, as they are nocturnal. Ancient people often heard tigers roaring at this time, hence the name "Yin Tiger".

This time is also called Pingdan (dawn), because at this time the yin and yang energies of heaven and earth begin to balance. It is the starting point and origin of the decline of yin energy!

The hour of Yin is 1:15 AM.

It was around nine o'clock in the evening. Feng Wencai glanced at the exhausted Feng hope and told him and the other guests to go and rest. They were to depart at 3:15, so they had to get up around 2:00 and have dinner first. Time was tight.

After all the guests went to rest, Feng Wencai and the other "Eight Immortals" sat with Fu Ze in the mourning hall, chatting while looking at the coffin.

Fu Ze is a modern man, and many of his insights and views are ahead of their time, which naturally left Feng Wencai and others completely bewildered.

Of course, Feng Wencai, a renowned coffin bearer from the surrounding area known as one of the "Eight Immortals," had been carrying coffins for decades and possessed considerable experience. His recounting of many mountain taboos and strange tales greatly enriched Fu Ze's knowledge…

More importantly, from his account, Fu Ze discovered that even compared to the same period in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, the concentration of demons and monsters in this parallel world was probably much higher than in his original world!

What excited Fu Ze at the same time was that, judging from Feng Wencai's account, the cultivators and magical techniques in this world seemed to be much more powerful.

They even possess the ability to "scatter beans to create soldiers." Feng Wencai witnessed a powerful sorcerer demonstrate this firsthand, and he even sparred and fought with that "Taoist soldier." Their strength was comparable to that of two or three adult strong men, so it couldn't be faked.

Fu Ze thought that after dealing with the matters in Fengjia Village, he would go to the town, the county seat, the provincial capital... and perhaps he could see a wider world!

After a conversation, the two became quite familiar with each other.

call!

Feng Wencai took a puff of his pipe, exhaling a cloud of white smoke that flickered in and out of view of his face.

"Brother Fu, I had a bad feeling while carrying the coffin this time, and my eyelids kept twitching. The little girl who drowned was already full of resentment... and she was pregnant with a fully formed child. The resentment of the mother and child combined is really fierce. Just thinking about it makes me a little scared."

Fu Ze then asked.

"Since you knew it was dangerous, why did you still take the job? Look, the geomancer that Village Chief Feng contacted just found an excuse not to show up."

Feng Wencai gave a wry smile.

"The little girl and the child in her womb are innocent! If they die and cannot be buried, and their resentment lingers and they become vengeful ghosts, it will not be a good thing for her or for Village Chief Feng and the others."

"I am, after all, a distant relative of the Feng family. We all descended from the same ancestor more than a hundred years ago. The town I live in is not far from here, and we know each other regularly. It's just a matter of helping out as fellow villagers."

"Others can be timid and cowardly, but I don't want to be a coward. Even if it's just for my own good, I'll still be doing myself a favor. The rest of them all think the same way."

The other members of the "Eight Immortals" also nodded.

"Yes, the reward is secondary; the main thing is to help Fengjia Village."

"That's right. We also felt sorry for the girl from the Feng family when we heard about her story! She was an educated person who had studied in the provincial capital."

"To be honest, if we don't help with the funeral and burial, and something happens to this girl's body, the nearby villages will suffer too."

"Yes, the resentment is so strong and fierce. If we don't bury it quickly and bring it to peace, it might turn into a vengeful ghost. It might even kill its own family members..."

"You jinx! Don't talk nonsense. It's bad luck!"

Fu Ze glanced at the group of coffin bearers and thought they were all simple and kind men.

Despite the chaos of the times, the flame of humanity was never extinguished.